


against the dying of the light

by brisingr12343



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bring Penelope Back 2kForever, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Penelope is helping Caroline in Belgium, slightly AU, the merge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25608526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brisingr12343/pseuds/brisingr12343
Summary: Penelope has been in Belgium for over a year helping Caroline search for a loophole for the Merge. With a lead so close to slipping out of their grasp, Penelope takes matters into her own hands -- perhaps getting in over her head much more than she bargained for.
Relationships: Penelope Park & Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 8
Kudos: 127





	against the dying of the light

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my docs for over a year and I finally finished it instead of going to bed after basically forgetting about it. I suppose it's just missing Posie hours. This is unbeta'd so please excuse any errors it's literally 4am as I type this out. I hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> P.S. anyone catch the Motherland FS Raylla reference? ;)

The shrill ringtone of Caroline’s phone had jolted Penelope from her sleep. The two were currently chasing a promising lead on a loophole for the merge and had been driving for several hours. The witch didn’t know exactly when she had fallen asleep but judging by the still setting sun, she hadn’t been out for too long. She briefly took in their surroundings and realized they were driving through the forest surrounding the small town in Belgium they had been residing in for the past week.

“Lizzie?” the blonde questioned immediately after picking up the phone, her brows furrowed. 

Caroline had just gotten off a phone call with the twins just an hour before so another impromptu call from her daughter was enough to elicit some concern.

Penelope strained her ears to hear what Lizzie was saying.

The vampire paused for a moment when suddenly Caroline’s eyes widened almost comically. “You and Josie are  _ what _ ?”

The witch frowned, staring at Caroline imploringly as she watched the blonde pinch the bridge of her nose and sigh.

“Of course I want to spend time with you girls but we-- I’m chasing a lead right now sweetie I’m so close to finding that loophole for you an--”

Caroline’s grip on the steering wheel tightens enough that she begins to leave indents. Penelope has to reach over the center console and place a comforting hand on her arm to prevent her from breaking the wheel clean off.

The vampire shoots her a small apologetic smile before refocusing on the road and her conversation.

The blonde releases a long, drawn out sigh and releases her death grip. “You’re right honey, I’m sorry. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I love you both.”

“Is everything okay? Is Josie alright?” Penelope questions as soon as Caroline hangs up.

“They’re both okay don’t worry, nothing happened--well at least nothing bad happened-- but apparently Alaric accidentally let it drop that I’m back in Belgium and now the twins are demanding to see me,” Caroline sighs, “They’re at the airport in the next city over.”

“What? Well-what about the lead? We can’t stop now Caroline, we’re so  _ close. _ ” the witch protests.

“Penelope I’m well aware we’re on the brink of finally figuring out this damn loophole but now that the twins are here I can’t really put off seeing my daughters any longer.” She snaps.

Penelope’s jaw ticks. “Ok fine, then let me keep going. You know damn well if we let this one go we won’t get another shot at this.”

Caroline opens her mouth to argue but decides against it knowing how right Penelope was. Their journey together had started in Belgium three years prior and after a tour of most of Europe, their most promising lead yet had led them back to this very forest. A remote location an hour from town and nearly two hours away from any major city.

The brunette arches a perfectly shaped brow, her trademark smirk beginning to grow on her face as she watches the vampire struggle to formulate a response.

“You’re right, we aren’t going to get another shot at this if we turn back now,” she huffs. Suddenly, she pulls over and sets the car in park. Penelope allows her smirk to grow even larger as the vampire turns to look at her with a grim expression on her face.

“The grimoire we need is going to be heavily protected. The coven we’re going to have to steal it from aren’t exactly keen on outsiders. If you’re not careful, things can go sideways faster than you can blink.” Caroline reaches across the console and opens the glove box, pulling out a bracelet similar to the one she had seen Hope wearing back at the Salvatore School and a matching ring.

“What are those for?” Penelope questions, her smirk fading into a frown.

“Insurance.” Caroline mutters, sliding the ring onto Penelope’s right index finger before clasping the bracelet onto her own wrist.

The ring resembles a daylight ring except the stunning speckled blue stone is encompassed by a gold dial.

“These are spelled together. If you turn the dial on the ring clock-wise my bracelet will activate and lead me to you.”

Caroline grabs Penelope’s hand and squeezes it firmly. The vampire’s eyes look misty, her lips quirking up into a ghost of a smile before she presses them together into a thin line.

“You need to be quick. Get in, grab the grimoire and get out. If things look to be heading south even just a little, you turn that dial and I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

Penelope gives her a small smile and swallows the emotion building in her throat that’s seemingly come out of nowhere. She doesn’t really know  _ why _ she’s getting so emotional now of all times. In the last few months of her time spent helping Caroline finding a loophole for the merge, she’s grown to trust the vampire and whether or not she would admit it, the witch had come to view Caroline like a second mom.

“I’ll be ok,” Penelope says resolutely. The young witch knew that failure was not an option. The twins’ 22nd birthday was rapidly approaching and this was as close as they’d ever get before then. “I’ll get it done for them.”

“I know you will, but I mean it Penelope,” Caroline stressed. “If anything goes wrong, you turn that dial. I’m not gonna let the love of my daughter’s life die on my watch.” 

Penelope let out a watery chuckle before promising to do as she asked.

“You going soft on me now Forbes?” She teased. “Let’s be honest, I don’t think Josie’s too fond of me right now anyhow.”

Caroline allows a small knowing smirk to grow on her face. “That doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you.”

Penelope pushes down the hope that grows in her chest at the thought of Josie reciprocating her feelings after all this time. She has to focus on getting this grimoire. Without it the girl she loves could very well die or be forced to kill her twin come their 22nd birthday.

The witch clears her throat and sighs, nodding to herself. Penelope will do anything it takes.

Caroline gives Penelope’s hand one last squeeze and a quick hug before she hops out of the car.

“Drive safe, don’t have too much fun with the car.” Caroline says pointedly, giving the black Audi Q7 a fond pat.

Penelope steps out of the car to switch into the driver’s seat.

“I won’t dent your baby don’t worry,” the witch says with an amused eye roll.

Caroline throws her one last smile before she speeds off towards the Salvatore School.

The brunette stared at the empty space Caroline had just occupied for a few more moments before shifting the car back into drive and onto the road.

She drove the last few miles to her destination in silence, choosing to take the time to gather her thoughts and plan out what she needed to do. Penelope prayed to the spirits of her ancestors that she wouldn’t need to use the ring Caroline had given her. The blue stone on her finger glinted in the dying light of the sunset.

The sun had long set below the horizon by the time Penelope made it to an area she could park the car without being immediately spotted by the coven. The grimoire she needed to obtain was highly coveted and protected by the Equitale Coven. They were known for being highly secretive and extremely aggressive with outsiders.

If Penelope wasn’t made on sight, she’d still have to find a way to make it inside the compound they resided in without being discovered by any of their members. Getting to the compound itself would be a whole other challenge in itself as the Equitale mansion was surrounded by dense forest. With the moon now being Penelope’s only source of light, the trek was going to be a struggle.

Before the witch steps out of the car she casts a basic invisibility spell on herself to avoid being detected at the very least through plain sight.

“Here goes nothing,” she mutters to herself.

Penelope manages to step out of the car without tripping, quickly acclimating to the fact that she can’t see her own feet.

She warily takes in her surroundings before setting off into the forest and towards the coven’s compound.

After an uneventful twenty minutes worth of hiking through the forest, she finally makes out the silhouette of the Equitale mansion ahead of her.

It’s figure looms over Penelope, the building’s size and intricate architecture being an obvious give away to the coven’s power and wealth. Standing at three stories tall with elaborate pitched roofing adorned in gold accents, the mansion was impressive to say the least.

The witch slows her pace and mentally notes the complete lack of light within the compound.

_ Well that’s odd _ , she thinks. It wasn’t so late that everyone would be in bed. It was only an hour or so past sunset, and Penelope knew for a fact that the coven itself was supposed to have dozens of members living within the compound.

The cold feeling of dread began to settle within her bones. 

Something wasn’t right.

She continued to analyze the ominously dark building before her until a flash of movement in the far right second story window catches her eye. Standing there was a tall cloaked figure that seemed to stare straight at her despite her invisibility spell.

Penelope frowns and squints, struggling to make out more defining features. All she can truly see is the glint of something metallic in the figures hands.

The sound of a stick snapping nearby forces the witch to tear her attention away from the mysterious figure.

Hazel eyes frantically scan the darkness of the forest, straining to see against the surrounding darkness.

Her breathing is coming out in short erratic puffs now as she begins to feel pins and needles manifesting up and down her arms as she is unable to shake the feeling that she’s being watched. Penelope, despite her best efforts, can’t determine the source of the noise.

The witch forces herself to calm down, lest her harsh breathing give away her location to whoever was in the forest with her.

Taking in a slow, deep breath, she swivels her head towards the second story window once again only to gasp when she realizes the figure was no longer in the window. 

Deciding that the coven definitely knew she was there, she turned to try and find an alternate route around the compound only to stop dead in her tracks.

In the shadows a few feet in front of her was the same towering figure she had previously seen in the window. Now that it was closer she could make out the item in its hands was actually a very,  _ very _ large blade. Penelope tries to discern any facial features, but its faceé was completely obscured by a shadowy veil beneath the cloak’s hood.

“Shit,” she whispered shakily. This was  _ not _ good at all. Despite Penelope’s invisibility spell, it seems the figure could still sense her presence.

The cloaked specter lets out a low menacing rumble from deep within its chest.

“Penelope Park.” It’s deep voice echoes into the darkness. “Daughter of Elise, we knew you would be coming.”

The witch frowned.

How the hell did this thing know who  _ she _ was, let alone who her mother was?

Penelope gulps and makes a move to step back only for the dark specter to raise its hand.

“ _ Adhuc staré, _ ” it growls.

Suddenly, she’s unable to move her feet and she nearly topples over in her surprise but manages to regain her balance as she flails her arms toward the nearest tree branch.

The cloaked figure steps closer, darkness shadowing its every step.

“ _ Revelare, _ ” it mutters once it’s a mere foot from where Penelope is frozen in place.

The witch looks down and finds that she can actually see herself now, chills running down her spine once she realizes it’s lifted her spell. 

Her heart rate skyrockets as she forces herself to put on a brave face and look up into the darkness underneath the specter’s shroud.

“You have heart, young witch. Your cause is noble, but I’m afraid I cannot give you what you seek,” it says, looming over her.

The knife it holds in its hands glints dangerously in the moonlight.

Penelope glances down at the weapon, trying to figure out a way to disarm it when she sees a worn leather book just barely sticking out of the folds of its cloak. She blanches when she realizes the grimoire has been in the specter’s possession the entire time.

Penelope’s stomach drops at the prospect of having to fight the cloaked being for it.

Well, this just got a lot more complicated.

She glances back up to where the figure’s face should be and steels herself, plastering on a smirk and false bravado. “Are you sure I can’t even just borrow it? I promise I’ll give it back just like I found it.”

The young witch feels a lightbulb go off in her head when she realizes their proximity could work to her advantage.

The dark being growls and raises the knife closer to Penelope, hovering just over her neck.

“The sacred spells of the Equitale will  _ not _ be revealed to outsiders.”

Penelope glances down at the knife and chuckles nervously.

“Alright, not a joking kind of guy. That’s fine,” she huffs.

She slyly tucks her hands behind her back as she plays coy with the agitated cloaked specter. She quickly turns the dial on Caroline’s ring, knowing what she’s about to do will most likely not end well for her. But she needs to get this grimoire to Caroline one way or another and if she has to sacrifice herself to ensure both Josie and Lizzie live past 22 then so be it.

“Well,  _ I’m _ afraid that I just won’t be taking no for an answer,” Penelope smirks.

Before the specter can make a move, Penelope flicks both hands forward. “ _ Icaeus! _ ”

The cloaked figure is launched into a nearby tree, forcing it to drop its knife. 

Penelope acts quickly and uses a levitation spell to lift the grimoire out of its cloak and into her grasp.

The specter roars with rage and shoots up to its feet, scrambling to whisk the weapon back into its hand.

With Penelope’s feet still frozen in place she’s no better than a sitting duck, so she shoots the specter a triumphant smile before closing her eyes and chanting, “ _ Phesmatos, traiciendam curaret locus _ .  _ Phesmatos, traiciendam curaret locus! _ ”

The grimoire catches fire in her hands before disappearing completely.

Penelope lets out a breathy laugh in her relief and drops her now trembling hands, exhausted from the spell she had just performed. She supposes teleporting an entire grimoire was a bit different than the piece of paper she’d practiced with in her spells classes.

However, the witch is pulled from her reverie when she notices the specter now only a few yards away.

“I underestimated you little witch. But, now you must pay,” the specter growls, darkness swirling around its shrouded figure. “ _ Motus!” _

Before Penelope can even think of a counter spell, the knife in the dark figures hand speeds toward her and lodges itself into her stomach. 

She screams in agony before dropping to her knees. Her vision blurs at the edges as she struggles to breathe through the intense pain coursing through her abdomen.

The specter is now directly in front of her and Penelope’s vision goes white as it roughly grabs her by the throat and lifts her into the air.

“Please,” Penelope gasps.

The specter ignores her and squeezes even harder, completely closing off her airway.

The witch struggles against its grasp but to no avail. She’s quickly losing strength and consciousness. Penelope knows it won’t be long now before he kills her. She knows she should be trying to think of a viable escape, but all she can think of is Josie.

She thinks of the last kiss they shared before she left Mystic Falls. She thinks of the way Josie used to smile at her before Penelope discovered the ugly truth as to why Caroline was absent so much. She thinks of all the things she wanted to tell her but couldn’t. And above it all, she thinks about how she’d do this all over again if it meant Josie would live a long happy life without having to worry about the burden of the Gemini curse.

Penelope is fading fast and her lungs are screaming for air. The specter remains unrelenting in its grip, and if Penelope didn’t think it even had a face, she could’ve sworn it was smiling at her.

Suddenly, she hears an all too familiar voice not too far away.

“Penelope!” they scream.

The witch is on the brink of death and everything is all too much to actually discern  _ who’s _ voice is calling out to her. Not to mention, everything sounds like she’s underwater-- muffled and distorted.

From the corner of her eye, she sees a bright orange flash and a stream of fire strike the specter’s back.

It drops Penelope and roars in pain as the flames grow and engulf it completely. The witch, now writhing on the ground, gasps for breath. Her throat feels like it’s on fire and Penelope still can’t seem to draw in enough oxygen. The large knife is still lodged in her stomach and every desperate breath burns in the worst way possible. Blood oozes out of the wound in a steady stream, showing no signs of slowing down, staining the white blouse the witch was wearing a concerning dark crimson.

“Penelope!” That familiar voice shouts again.

A few moments later, warm gentle hands are cradling her head and wiping the dirt and grime from her face.

Brown hair and frantic chocolate brown eyes take up Penelope’s field of vision and she can’t help but gasp when she realizes Josie Saltzman is in front of her. For a half second the witch thinks she’s hallucinating but the siphoner’s touch is enough to ground her to reality.

“Jojo?” She gasps as tears start to pool in her eyes. “Josie you need to get out of here it’s not safe I-”

“Shhh,” the brown eyed girl hushes. “Don’t Penny, save your energy. We’re gonna be ok. You’re gonna be ok-Mom is here too.”

Josie’s voice wavers dangerously, tears streaming down her own cheeks as she takes in the full extent of Penelope’s injuries. Her stomach drops at the bruising already beginning to form around the shorter girl’s throat and the profusely bleeding knife wound in her stomach.

A blur of blonde hair and fury suddenly appears by Penelope’s side and gently rolls the girl onto her back to avoid irritating the wound further as Josie shifts her grip to accommodate her head better.

Penelope’s glazed eyes struggle to focus on the face hovering above hers.

It takes a moment to register that the blonde is actually speaking to her and another 30 seconds to comprehend that it was Caroline at her side.

“Wh-Caroline?” Penelope rasps weakly. She coughs violently, blood bubbling up past her lips as she heaved another painful breath.

“I’m here Penelope, I’m here,” Caroline says, frantically grabbing for Penelope’s hand.

Penelope grabs onto Caroline’s hand and tries her best to focus on the vampire’s face. “Did you get it? Did you get the grimoire?” She hisses as she shifts in a way that sends white hot pain down her stomach.

Caroline vigorously nods before letting out a pained laugh, “Yeah I did. You scared the shit out of me, it came out of nowhere. You did good kiddo.” The vampire swallows before setting her jaw and frowning.

Just then, another blonde head appears in Penelope’s line of sight and she blanches as she recognizes Lizzie hovering next Josie.

Lizzie crouches down next to them and grabs Penelope’s other free hand hesitantly, her face betraying an uncharacteristic amount of concern for the other girl.

“Hey Satan,” she says, voice wavering dangerously.

Penelope being Penelope somehow manages to throw the twin a weak, but definitely still there, smirk.

“Don’t tell me my archnemesis is going soft on me now?” the witch wheezes out teasingly.

“Well I can’t exactly have a blood feud with someone who’s dead now can I?” Lizzie softly chuckles. “It takes two to tango, you know?”

Penelope lets out a choked laugh before groaning in pain.

The wounded witch turns her glossy gaze back to Caroline and gives the vampire her best teasing smile.

“You know this ring really came in handy Forbes, it’s too bad this is the first and last time we use it,” she says, her voice faltering as her smile fades.

Before Caroline can respond, Josie, who had been quietly wallowing in her guilt for not making it to Penelope sooner, suddenly snaps out of her self imposed pity party to admonish the witch.

“Hey don’t talk like that,” she snaps, harsher than she meant to. 

She swallows the lump in her throat roughly before continuing more calmly, “Mom is going to heal you, and you’re going to be ok.”

Penelope only sighs and manages to nod weakly. She could feel her strength dwindling more and more the longer the knife remained in her stomach, her vision still swimming, unable to properly recover from the lack of oxygen and blood loss.

Caroline shakes her head somberly, biting back her own guilt for letting the raven haired witch go alone in the first place. She squeezes Penelope’s hand and lets out a long breath as she nods to herself.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it here faster, and I’m sorry for what I’m about to do.”

Before Penelope can ask, the vampire rips out the knife in her stomach and causes her to scream in agony.

“Fuck! Caroline, can’t you give a girl a warning first?” she grits out through clenched teeth. The breath escaping her lungs in one instant.

“I’m sorry but I can’t give you my blood and heal you with that thing still stuck inside of you,” Caroline explains quickly before biting into her wrist.

She forces Penelope to take several gulps of her blood before allowing the witch to rest. She glances down at the wound expectantly, fully intent on ensuring the gaping wound heals properly.

The only issue is that the wound  _ wasn’t  _ healing properly. In fact, it seemed that the bleeding was getting even worse now that the knife had been yanked out.

“Mom, why isn’t she getting better?” Josie panics.

Lizzie’s grip on Penelope’s left hand tightens significantly as the wounded witch suddenly begins to chuckle weakly.

“Penelope, I know you have a terrible nihilistic sense of humor but I really don’t think this is particularly funny at all,” Lizzie sputtered incredulously.

The witch gave one last bitter chuckle before replying, “Oh but isn’t it?”

Penelope turns her head to stare at the knife, now residing inside Caroline’s trembling hand.

“It’s obviously spelled, Saltzman. It’s not letting me heal magically, so forgive me as I try to cope with the fact that I am bleeding out in the arms of the love of my life, her twin sister, and their mother in Belgian a forest,” she sniffs, her sharp words being softened by the tremble in her voice.

Josie feels her heart break again as she listens to Penelope admit she’s still in love with her.

“No, there has to be another way to heal you,” she protests. “What if--what if we siphoned the magic from you?”

“Honey, she can barely speak, if you siphon from her now you could very well kill her,” Caroline interjects, eyes shining with sympathy as her daughter struggles to come to terms with how dire the situation truly is.

“Jojo it’s ok,” Penelope sighs weakly, fresh tears now streaming down her cheeks.

The witch turns to give Lizzie and Caroline a watery smile.

“Can-Can I just have a second with Josie please?” She requests.

Caroline moves to protest, but surprisingly, it’s Lizzie who stops her and shakes her head sadly, motioning to let the two witches be.

The vampire relents and simply bends to press a soft kiss onto the wounded witch’s forehead. Over the years the two had spent traveling around Belgium together, Caroline had grown to love the feisty witch as much as she did her own daughters. Penelope Park just seemed to have a way of getting underneath peoples’ skin.

Lizzie and Caroline stand up from Penelope’s prone body and turn to look toward the looming Equitale coven’s mansion, dread filling their bones at the thought of its members still possibly waiting inside.

Meanwhile, Penelope is struggling to shift her body as best she can without irritating her stomach in order to get a better view of Josie’s face.

Josie scrambles to help prop the girl up closer to a sitting position, cradling most of Penelope’s upper torso in her arms now.

The wounded witch coughs weakly before directing her tired, half-lidded gaze back to meet Josie’s worried eyes. Penelope frowns when she sees the tear tracks on the taller girl’s cheeks.

“Hey, none of that. It’s okay Jojo, I’m ok,” Penelope says, chest aching at the thought of not being able to take Josie’s pain away.

“No you’re  _ not _ Penelope, we need to get you to a hospital or  _ something _ .”

“Jo you know the nearest hospital is at least two hours out. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I don’t think I’ll even make it to the car. Besides, I wouldn’t want to stain Caroline’s expensive leather seats anyhow,” she smiles, trying her best to make light of the situation.

“Penelope I’m not just going to let you  _ die _ you idiot!” Josie huffs angrily, her grip around her torso tightening at the thought of losing the other girl. “There’s got to be a loophole, there  _ always  _ is.”

“You’re right. There is always a loophole, and I’ve found the only one that matters. Jojo that grimoire is the key to stopping the merge. We all have to go sometime. Besides, we don’t know what the effect of siphoning black magic could have on you. So, if this is how I go--saving you and Lizzie from a stupid archaic curse, then that’s alright with me.” She rasps earnestly.

Josie lets out a harsh sob and tenderly cups the dying witch’s cheek with her free hand.

Penelope’s vision is swiftly closing in and she knows she doesn’t have much longer now.

“God, I love you so much Jojo,” she whispers, her hand weakly coming up to brush the siphoner’s cheek. 

Josie’s breathing stutters as she lets out another sob, unable to contain the steady stream of tears from coming down her face.

“I love you too Penny,” she finally chokes out. “So, so much.”

Penelope smiles, cherishing the words as she fades out of consciousness.

Josie feels the witch go limp in her arms and allows herself to breakdown, clutching Penelope’s body closer to her chest.

The siphoner steels herself for what she knows she’s about to do.

The younger witch sees Caroline and Lizzie tearfully approaching and leans down to press one last kiss to Penelope’s lips, and as she does she begins to siphon the dark magic into herself. All Josie knows is that she doesn’t think she could live with herself if she didn’t at least try something.

She stops once she feels Caroline her hand on her shoulder. Josie is slightly reeling from the feeling of the powerful magic coursing through her but it’s not the first time she’s had to control black magic.

“I’m sorry Josie,” Caroline whispers.

Josie shakes her head as she stares intently at Penelope’s face, praying for any indication that what she did had helped. Hoping that she hadn’t killed the love of her life.

Unfortunately, Penelope remained unmoving.

The younger witch let out a gut wrenching sob and clutched at Penelope’s prone form tighter. Standing above both of them protectively, Caroline struggles to keep her tears at bay.

Lizzie stands a ways back, knowing that Josie and Caroline needed their time with the witch. She had never been close with Penelope, hell, up until tonight she had been hellbent on hating her guts for breaking her sister’s heart. But now that she knew why Penelope did everything she did, she felt immensely guilty for giving the girl such a hard time.

They all mourn in silence for several minutes. The only sounds being their crying and the wind rustling the nearby trees.

“I never should’ve let her go alone,” Caroline mutters brokenly.

“Mom, this isn’t your fault,” Lizzie protests as Josie chooses to remain silent.

Before Caroline can formulate a response, a loud gasp followed by a weak chuckle cuts through the somber atmosphere, startling everyone.

“Getting soft on me Forbes?,” a weak rasp resounds from the prone body in Josie’s arms.

Josie gasps and begins to shed new tears of joy.

“Penelope oh my God! You’re ok-you’re ok baby I’ve got you,” the siphoner cries, frantically adjusting the older witch into a more comfortable position.

Caroline quickly moves to check over her wounds only to discover that the gaping knife wound had completely healed.

The vampire furrowed her brows. How was that possible? The dark magic on the specter’s blade had prevented Penelope from being healed with her blood earlier, and from what she could tell she hadn’t turned into a vampire.

“I-how?” Caroline stutters, “Josie did you manage to siphon the magic earlier?”

The siphoner nods, still gazing disbelievingly at Penelope.

“I couldn’t let her die without trying everything.”

Penelope weakly laced their fingers together comfortingly, as if sensing Josie’s spiralling thoughts.

“Thank you,” Penelope smiles softly.

Josie sighed in relief and brought Penelope closer, brushing a kiss onto her forehead.

Behind them, the Equitale compound continued to serve as a menacing reminder that they were still in the heart of enemy territory.

“As happy as I am that you’re alive Penelope, we need to get out of here now before the Equitale coven gets any more ideas,” Caroline stresses. “Penelope can you stand?”

“I guess we’ll find out,” she mumbles.

Penelope struggles to get her feet under her but manages to get upright with Josie’s help.

“Alright this is going to be a bit difficult with four people, but everyone grab onto me,” Caroline huffs.

The three witches grab onto the vampire while Caroline ensures she has a firm grip on Penelope.

In just a few seconds, the stable are back where Penelope had parked the car. Caroline’s abrupt stop nearly causes the newly revived witch to crumble to the floor but three pairs of hands are prepared to steady her before that could happen.

“I have to give it to the bastard, he had a mean grip,” Penelope grunts as she struggled to regain the strength in her legs.

Josie flinches at the fresh memory of seeing the dark specter so close to choking the love of her life to death.

“Really not the best time to be making jokes about Walmart Grim Reaper when you’ve quite literally just died and came back to life,” Lizzie huffs as she struggles to help Josie get the shorter witch into the backseat.

“Well I didn’t think a comment about the atrocious shirt you’re wearing was appropriate either, so,” Penelope grinned.

“And she’s back,” Caroline interjected from the driver’s seat. “C’mon guys get buckled up, I really don’t want to stay here any longer than we have to.

Lizzie rolls her eyes half heartedly and climbs into the front seat while Josie quickly joins Penelope in the back.

As Caroline speeds down the long stretch of road they must pass before they reach any semblance of normal civilization, Josie refuses to let go of Penelope’s hand. The raven haired witch is resting her head on the back of her seat with her eyes closed. If it weren’t for the small smile on her face Josie would’ve thought she was asleep.

“I can feel you staring,” Penelope murmurs.

“I can’t help it,” she smiles softly.

In the front, Caroline switches on the radio. Her soft gaze meeting Josie’s through the rearview mirror. Next to her, as if sensing a shift in the atmosphere, Lizzie puts on her headphones and attempts to get some sleep. Caroline winks and she has to suppress a laugh from escaping her.

Josie quickly turns serious when she realizes this drive back could have gone a completely different way. The fear of losing Penelope slowly returns gripping her heart and making it’s way to her throat.

Noticing how tense she had gotten, the newly revived witch gently squeezes her hand.

“Hey, you ok?” Penelope frowns.

Josie lets out a shaky breath. “God I should be asking you that. I just-we nearly lost you Pen.  _ I _ nearly lost you--again. Please don’t be stupid and scare me like that again.”

“I can’t promise you that Josie,” Penelope sighs.

“What do you-”

“Josie, I came here to help find the cure to the Merge. To protect you--and Lizzie I guess,” she adds as an afterthought. “I would do this all again if it meant that you would get the chance to be happy, to live your life.”

Josie squeezes her hand tighter.

She opens her mouth as if to say something then thinks better of it. She knows arguing with her about it would be useless. She was too stubborn, and contrary to what she had told her months before, Penelope was too selfless to do any different.

With a sigh she concedes. “Thank you, Pen,” she whispers as she stares at their clasped hands.

She glances up and finds herself caught in Penelope’s captivating gaze. Her breath catches in her throat and she subconsciously begins to lean closer. A few moments later, after what felt like an eternity, they’re nose to nose, foreheads touching, lips millimeters away from each other.

Josie can’t recall who finally closed the gap. All she could focus on was the feel of Penelope’s lips against hers. And unlike their kiss from less than an hour before, this didn’t feel like goodbye. This was a new beginning. A new chapter. It felt like coming home.

Neither Josie nor Penelope knew what new dangers they would face in the future, but there in the back of the car with Caroline smiling contentedly in the front seat and Lizzie hiding a smirk of her own, they would be facing it all  _ together. _

  
  



End file.
